To preserve history through our currency, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will be issuing commemorative circulation coins in celebration of the 100th birth anniversary of educator and historian Reverend Horacio dela Costa, and the 150th birth anniversaries of two Philippine Revolutionary Army officers, Generals Artemio Ricarte and Isidro Torres.
Born on May 9, 1916 in Mauban, Quezon, Reverend Horacio dela Costa was the first Filipino dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Ateneo de Manila University and the first Filipino to become the provincial head of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. A Republic Cultural Heritage Awardee for distinguished historical writing and a charter member of the Philippine National Historical Society, he was one of the founders of the Philippine Historical Association, secretary of the International Association of Historians Asia, and a member of the National Historical Commission. During World War II, Reverend dela Costa helped bring clothes and medicines to Filipino and American soldiers who had evaded or escaped from Japanese prison camps, resulting to his imprisonment in Fort Santiago for two months. In 1975, he was diagnosed with cancer, and in 1977, he died at the age of 60.
Hailing from Batac, Ilocos Norte, General Artemio Ricarte was born on October 20, 1866. When he joined the Katipunan, he adopted the nom-de-guerre Vibora (Viper). He was named brigadier general in General Emilio Aguinaldo’s army and elected capital general of the Filipino army at the Tejeros Convention, a rank which corresponds to the present chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. During the Filipino-American War, he was banished to Guam together with Apolinario Mabini. General Ricarte refused to take the oath of allegiance to the United States, so he was deported to Hong Kong. He eventually lived in self-exile in Japan for 25 years. Then he flew back to the Philippines to help Japan in the pacification movement. When the Japanese forces retreated to the mountain province where they made their last stand, General Ricarte followed them but caught dysentery. He died in 1945 in Kalinga, Mountain Province.
More famously known as Matang Lawin, General Isidro Torres was born on April 10, 1866. He became a Katipunero while serving as cabeza de barangay of his town in Matimbo, Malolos, Bulacan. He attained the rank of colonel when the fighting raged around Biak-na-Bato, and General Aguinaldo appointed him brigadier general upon the organization of military departmental zones in Central Luzon at Mt. Puray. He was also named director of arms, assistant secretary of war, and later, military governor of Bulacan. He also represented Palaos Islands (Palua) in the Malolos Congress. The Americans offered him the gubernatorial seat of Bulacan, but General Torres refused it. After living in Japan for some time, he came home and settled in San Antonio, Nueva Ecija. He died in 1928.
The obverse side of each coin will feature the respective portrait of the historical figures, while the reverse side of all coins will feature the denomination P1, a silhouette of an eagle, the BSP seal, and the yearmark.
Source : bsp
